OLDEST FIND YET! 1830-40s cast iron pot!

farmdump

Full Member
Mar 5, 2013
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Maine
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Today was sort of a weird treasure day. I got outside around 10:00 this morning and went back to my original dump site (it turns out that the place were I got the sweet poison belongs to someone else and I cant go back there and dig anymore :sad10:. So I decided to turn right and dig by the creek. I found the top of a beer bottle in the creek but that was it. After searching in the woods for about an hour and 1/2 I decided to try a last ditch effort and see if I could make this day worthwhile.

I knew that there was a rock dump in front of the old barn and decided to try that. All I was finding was broken glass. I was bored so I decided to walk the property line and there it was. At first I though it was some sort of milk part but later found out that it was from a 1830s-40s cast iron pot! I was soooo excited! this has got to be my oldest find yet!

here it is:

Photo on 2013-03-30 at 18.35.jpg

Photo on 2013-03-30 at 18.36.jpg

Photo on 2013-03-30 at 18.36 #2.jpg

enjoy!
 

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Those things are built like a tank recon what happened to it.My momma has some she uses them for flower pots.cool find
 

Its common to find those in pieces.....often scattered like from an explosion....I never have figured out how/why?
 

Do you think theres more pieces of this thing nearby where I found this?
 

You're not going to believe this - I found one almost IDENTICAL yesterday! How's that for a coincidence?

pot.JPG
 

Wow! what are the odds? Thats cool!
 

BTW, I have a son in law across the border from you in New Brunswick starting to get into relic hunting.
 

Nice

Yeah theres definitely old farms across the way from New Brunswick that would be great for relic hunting! Is he close to St. Stephen? If so then he could go across into Calais and search around from there.
 

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This cast iron pot piece was a great find!
 

Do you think theres more pieces of this thing nearby where I found this?
I bet there is.As said,often times they are a fair spread a part cover a pretty good radius
 

Thanks kuger!

I didn't see any more pieces on the surface so they are most likely in the ground. I found it on a hill in front of a very old barn.
 

It's a piece of a pot called a Darby pot. He pioneered the sand casting process in the late 1700 which help start the industrial revolution. Can you see the very bottom of the pot? It will help date it better if you can see the "scars from the casting process. Let me know.
 

The bottom pic is blurry so I can't make it out.

Sent from my iPad using TreasureNet
 

Thanks Victor!

The town was settled in the 1780s so could it have been from a early settlers pot? As for pics, I will get you some soon.
 

Heres some pics of all the marks I found on the pot. Hopefully this can tell you about the casting process.

Photo on 2013-04-01 at 15.37.jpg

Photo on 2013-04-01 at 15.37 #2.jpg

hopefully this helps!
 

The bottom shows a line instead of a swirl. This was a change in the process where the form was formed with two sides like a sandwich. This change came about around the 1850's into the late 1800's. by the looks of this one it looks to be on the earlier side of the scale. This is a side piece of one that I found in a creek. Literally under the creek about 8 inches. I can't date it due to the bottom missing



image-1687844051.jpg

Sent from my iPad using TreasureNet
 

Thanks!

So are these worth any money and sense I found this on a hill, could the rest be buried in the hillside?
 

As far as money goes. No. I have two complete darby pots that I bought at goodwill. Both from the era yours are from. You can still see them around. You probably will now that you know what they look like. A lot of people use them as planters. There are a lot of knock offs that were produced over the years.

Sent from my iPad using TreasureNet
 

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